linkHow do I create a table in Amplenote?

To insert a table, use the corresponding button in the formatting toolbar, either on web or mobile:

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Inside the Web app, the fastest way to create a table is to use the Tab key.

Upon creation, your table will only have one cell. To insert additional columns or rows, place your cursor inside the cell and check out the formatting bar again:

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Adding a new column will append it to the left of the current cell and adding a new row will insert it above the current one:

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linkTable manipulation using the keyboard

linkSelecting cell ranges

You can select multiple cells using one of the following options:

The Table Cell Formatting Toolbar:

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Hover on exterior table borders:

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Once you have a cell range selection, you can perform the following options:

💡 Note that you can reorder rows and columns from inside any cell, without selecting the whole range.

linkInserting media and other types of formatting inside tables

Tables support all of the usual formatting options for the contents of a cell:

Bold / italics / strikethrough / highlighting / inline code	linkHeadings	Bullet lists With sub-bullets Numbered lists too Sub-items
Links and Rich Footnotes	open_in_new Images with captions and alignment	Code blocks

To insert any of the supported types of content, simply use the formatting bar just as you would do outside of a table ✨.

linkTable styling and formatting options

Whenever you select a cell or multiple cells inside a table, a formatting bar will show up exposing extra options:

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The easiest way to select a cell is to press Esc twice while the cursor is inside that cell.

Let's go through the available options in the Table Cell Formatting Toolbar.

linkFormatting text inside table cells

There are 2 table-specific options for formatting text: alignment and font color:

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linkChanging text alignment

Here is what the 3 alignment options look like in a real table:

open_in_new	Text aligned to the right
open_in_new	Center-aligned
open_in_new	Text aligned to the left

linkChanging text font color

When changing the color of the text inside your table, you can either choose from the existing palette or paste the HEX code of a custom color.

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Custom colors remain the same all the time, while the preset options adjust dynamically when you switch between light and dark mode 💡:

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linkStyling and resizing table cells

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In addition to text formatting, cells can be customized in the following ways:

linkChanging cell borders

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Click on an option to add that border.
Click again to remove it.
Alt-Click or Opt-Click to only add that border to the boundary of the current selection.

Using the Cell Formatting Toolbar, you can choose between different border options for a cell or for a selection of cells.

linkChanging column widths

By default, when adding content inside a table cell, the column the cell is part of will extend to fit the entire content on a single line.

To change the width of a column, use the mouse pointer to hover over one of the vertical borders of a cell and drag to choose the desired width:

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To reset the column width such that it fits the contents of the cell on a single line (with no wrapping), use this button in the Table Formatting bar:

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When multiple cells are selected, each column will be resized to fit the widest cell from that column.

💡 Any prior changes to the width of a column will mark that column as a custom-width column. Here are the rules of custom-width columns:

linkFull-width tables and scrollable tables

The other way to adjust the widths of columns is by toggling between a left-aligned table and a full-width table:

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This button is on the regular toolbar, not in the floating Table Toolbar that appears when making a cell selection.

Here is what the default table looks like:

And here's a full-width table looks like:

When converting to a full-width table, columns that weren't assigned a custom width will extend to cover the page:

Default table:

Converted full-width table:

When converting to a full-width table where all the columns have custom widths, they will be resized while maintaining their relative sizes:

Default table:

Converted full-width table:

linkApplying cell background colors

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Cell background colors work just like Changing text font color: Choosing a custom color will preserve it no matter what, while picking from the preset colors will have the effect of changing the color based on the choice of dark/light mode:

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linkRemoving formatting from a cell

To quickly remove formatting from a cell, use the corresponding icon in the Table Toolbar:

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"Clear cell formatting" will remove text color, cell color, text alignment and border additions.

linkSmart column sorting

Whenever possible, Amplenote detects the contents of your tables, tries to deduce their type and will let you sort them in ascending/descending order, based on the sorting mechanism that was identified.

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Press once to sort in ascending order, press again to sort in descending order.

💡 Amplenote automatically detects your header row if you:

link📌 Use cases for tables

As of the end of October 2022, the plan for the next iteration of tables is to support formulas! After that patch, tables will be considerably more powerful in Amplenote and will support advanced use cases such as Budget Planning, Expense Tracking, Workout Tracking, etc.

For now, consider using tables for:

linkUse case: Creating an Index of your Amplenote notebook

linkUse case: Visualizing daily habits

linkUse case: A Dashboard/Homepage